Take-up mechanism for knitting machines



Jan. 19, 1937. R H. LAWSON ET AL TAKE-UP MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINESs Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 19, 1931 fzvwzzvroRs. FOBERTHZAWJ01Y lARTHW? A! LMl/TIER, 0 By Arry.

5 Sheets-Sheet 2 JNVENTOR ROBERTHLAWSOM flli'fl'lflfli/I[C"L0UT[15'1? ByWM ATTy.

Filed Nov. 19, 19:51

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Jan. 19, 1937.

Jan. 19, 1937.

R. H. LAWSON El AL Filed Nov. 19, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTy "Jan. 19,1937. R. H. LAWSON El AL TAKEJJP MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES FiledNOV. 19, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 JNVENTORS [P0353 TH LA WJ'DM ARTHUR A1.CL 0 UTIER y 6%, ztzwwg A T Ty Jan. 19, R H, LAWSON ET AL TAKE-UPMECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Nov. 19, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 5F'IG.3. FICLZO.

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Patented Jan. 19, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TAKE-UP MECHANISM FORKNITTING MACHINES Massachusetts Application November 19, 1931, SerialNo. 576,120

8 Claims.

This invention relates to a mechanism for knitting stockings or halfhose or other fabric partly plain and partly rib, the invention moreparticularly relating to a. special form of fabric take-up mechanism forproperly tensioning the rib wales and especially the heel and/or toewales when rib fabric is knitted following the knitting of the heeland/0r toe.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in elevation and partly in section showing the maintake-up for the tubular portions of the fabric, and mechanism forcontrolling the auxiliary take-up for properly tensioning the rib walesknitted immediately following reciprocatory movements of the needlecylinder;

Fig. 2 is a view in elevation and in section showing a so-called grabtake-up for tensioning the wales constituting the heel and/or toepockets;

Fig. 3 is a detail view of the grab take-up mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a view complemental to Fig. 2 and showing means forcontrolling the movements of the grab take-up;

Fig. 5 is a view in elevation showing an end view of the gearing forcontrolling the main takeup rolls;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 5 but showing the otherside of the drive for the take-up rolls, the pulley not being shown;

Fig. 7 is an elevational view in section showing driving connectionsbetween the needle cylinder and the take-up rolls; and

Figs. 8, 9, and 10 are more or less diagrammatic views showing how themain and auxiliary take-ups cooperate during knitting.

The machine indicated generally by the numeral I is provided with aneedle cylinder 2 in association with which is a needle dial 3 whereinneedles are adapted to be seated for cooperation with the cylinderneedles, thereby to knit one and one or any other type of rib fabric,the dial and cylinder being connected by means, not shown and not anecessary part of the invention, to rotate in timed relation one withthe other, the needle cylinder being provided with a bevelled ring gear4 the teeth of which are adapted to be engaged by a driven .gear, notshown. Depending from the underside of the dial and formingpart thereofis a hub 5 one purpose of which will hereinafter appear. The ring gear 4is rotatably supported in a recess provided in the circular base 6, thelatter being stationary and serving as a bearing for the ring gear.

Depending from the underside of and attached to the said ring gear 4(Fig. 7) is a bracket 1 from which extends laterally a shaft in the formof a screw 8, loosely mounted upon the shank of which screw is a bevelgear 9 which meshes with teeth carried by a supplemental ring gear Inwhich is attached to and depends from the underside of the circular base6. Fixed to the said bevel gear 9 is a grooved pulley II in the grooveof which is a belt l2 which also engages in the groove of another pulleyI3, which latter pulley is fastened to a shaft M at one end thereof, theother end of which shaft I4 is provided with a, worm 15 which mesheswith a worm wheel l6. The shaft I4 is supported in bearings provided bya bracket I! which in turn rests upon and is connected to a cylindricalbracket or support 18. The rotary movements imparted to the Worm Wheell6 by the worm l5 are communicated to the shaft l9 to which the wormwheel I6 is fixed. Fixed to the shaft I9 at one end thereof is a pinion20 (Fig. 5) which meshes with an idler pinion 2| which in turn mesheswith a gear 22 fast on a shaft 23. The gear 22 meshes with a gear 24fast on a shaft 25, said gear 24 meshing with a gear 26 fast on theshaft 21 upon which is fixedly mounted a take-up roll 28. The shaft 23,to which is fixed the gear 22, 'is driven thereby and to the other endof the shaft 23 (Fig. 6) is fixed a gear 29 which meshes with and drivesa gear 30 fast on the shaft 3| to which is fixed the companion take-uproll 32. The shafts 23, 25, 21, and 3| are mounted at one end inbearings provided by uprights 33 and a bracket 33, the said shafts attheir other ends being mounted in bearings provided by uprights 34 and abracket 34'. The respective uprights 33, 34 each consist of a pair ofcompanion members which are yieldingly urged toward one another by meansof a coil spring 35 (Fig. 5) which surrounds a headed pin 36 and whichat its other end bears against the face of one of the rolls 33, 34 asthe case may be. The pin or screw 36 passes through a hole in onecompanion member of uprights 33, 34 and into threaded engagement withthe other companion member. The construction just described causes therolls 28 and 32 yieldingly to engage the fabric between them, and therolls being each positively driven, exert a tension upon the fabric andpermit the dial needles properly to cast off their stitches.

Take-up rolls, etc. are supported from the underside of the ring gear 4(Fig. 1) by means of depending bracket arms 31, 38 which are attached toand depend from the underside of the said ring gear and consequentlyrotate therewith thus causing the take-up rolls, etc. to rotate with thefabric during plain kniting but during rib knitting, i. e., immediatelyfollowing the knitting ofheels or toes, it becomes necessary to' providesome auxiliary tensioning means for properly tensioning the wales on theheel and toe side of the fabric. With that purpose imyiew, the auxiliarytake-up mechanism shown in detail I in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 is provided,said mechanism including the ring or partial ring 4|] which is adaptedautomatically to be moved to the position shown in Fig. 2 wherepins orpoints 4| (which points are carried by the ring 40 and which pointinwardly and downwardly) pass through the portion of the fabric 42included in the heel and toe pockets, the diametrically opposite portionof the ring causing the instep portion of the fabric to bunch upsomewhat as shown at 43, the fabric 42 being caused partially to enclosethe hub 5 of the dial, and being maintained more or less taut betweenthe needles and the hub 5, whereby to facilitate initial engagement ofthe fabric by the points 4|. With the parts in the relative positionshown in Fig. 2, continued rib knitting permits the ring '40 andconnected parts gradually to drop and thereby tension the rib wales thatare on the heel and toe side of the fabric, all in a mannerhereinafter-to be described. The auxiliary take-up continues to hangsuspended from the knitted fabric as the said takeup continues to movedownwardly and away from the hub 5 of the dial cap, the continuedmovement being finally arrested by a pin 44 (which is attached to andprojects laterally from a rod 45) engaging a coil spring 46 one end ofwhich is fastened to a pin or screw 41 projecting laterally from andcarried by a bracket 48 which is fastened to and depends from the ringgear 4. The spring 46 passes around rod 45 which is fastened to the ring40 as by means of'screws 49, the other end of the said spring 46 beingfastened to a pin or screw (not shown) similar to the pin 41 but on theother side of the bracket 48. The spring 46 by encircling the rod 45causes the same to maintain a position somewhat adjacent to the innerwall of the needle cylinder and in a slot or recess 50 which is providedby bifurcating the outer end of a lug 5| which projects laterally fromandis part of bracket 48. Furthermore, spring 46 maintains a cam 52,which forms part of the rod 45, in engagement with a pin 53 carried bythe bracket'48. v

Following the knitting of heels and/ r toes and preceding rib knitting,it is desirable to raise the ring 40 and connected parts to the positionshown in Fig. 2 and to accomplish such purpose a ring 54 is providedwhich surrounds the container 39. The container 39 is provided with alongitudinally disposed slot 55 from which projects laterally a lug 56which lug is made fast to the rod 45 near the lower end thereof. Thebracket l8 also is slotted as at 51 so that, as the rod 45 and cam 52.descend, the said cam 52 may pass below the upper surface of the saidbracket l8, the slot 51 being wide enough to accommodate the cam 52.

Furthermore, the container 39 is provided with a slot corresponding toand registering with the slot 51. In constant engagement with the lowerface of the ring 54 (Fig. 1) is a two-armed lever 58, said lever beingpivotally mounted at one end upon a pivot pin 59 which is fastened tothe oil pan which is connected to the machine frame; and also pivotedupon said pin or shaft is a lever, one arm 60 of which is provided witha pin or screw 6| adjustably-engaging the outer face of the lever 58,while the other arm 62 of said lever is pivotally connected at its outerend to a link 63 which in turn is pivotally connected at its 7 other endto another link 64, the last named link being pivoted upon an arm 65which is rigidly secured to-a frame portion of the machine at 66. Ashaft 61, which is a continuation of the main cam shaft and makes onecomplete revolution during the knitting of each stocking or half hose,

has mounted thereon a ring 68, said ring 68 being provided adjacent tothe periphery thereof with a pin 69, which when the drum upon which ring68 is mounted moves in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 1, engages alink 64 thereby causing the link'63 to rock the lever 62 andconsequently raise the portions of the lever 58 in engagement with thelower face of the ring 54, thus raising the latter from the positionshown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 4 and against the tensionof a coil'spring 10, one end of which is attached to a pin 1| connectedto the container 39 while the other end of such coil spring 10 iscorrespondingly fastened to a pin 12 projecting laterally from andcarried by the cam 52 which is itself fastened to and forms part of therod 45.

Movement of the rod 45 to the position shown in Figs. 2 and 4 causes theinclined face of. the cam 52 to engage the pin 53 and thereby move therod 45 from a position adjacent to the inner face of the needle cylindersubstantially at right angles to its direction of movement toward thehub and to the relatively inward position shown in Fig. 2 where the ring48 is centered with respect to the hub 5 and so that the pins 4| willengage the fabric when rotation of shaft 61 causes pin 69 to move pastlink 64 and thus permit lever 58 and rod 45, under influence of thespring III, to drop.

The so-called grab take-up acts as an effective means for engaging theheel and/or toe portions of the fabric, especially in conjunction withthe depending hub 5 of the dial, the latter tending to tension thefabric in a manner indicated in Fig. 2 so that the points 4| may readilypenetrate the fabric. v

The cooperative action of the main and auxiliary take-ups is illustratedmore or less diagrammatically in Figs. 8, 9, and 10. In Fig. 8 theauxiliary take-up is shown as just having engaged the heel and toe walesof the fabric (Fig. 2), the points 4| of such auxiliary take-up beingpositioned closely adjacent to the hub 5 of the needle dial 3, at whichtime the rib wales, then being knitted by the interspersed dial andcylinder needles, are being properly tensioned by .the points 4| of theauxiliary take-up. 'I'he 28 and 32 are exerting practically no tensionon the heel and toe wales, the auxiliary take-up (due in part to thetension of the spring '10 and in part to the weight of the auxiliarytake-up itself) alone tensioning the heel and toe wales at such time. Asknitting continues the auxiliary take-up moves downwardly from theposition shown in Fig. 8 and approaches the position shown in Fig. 9 atwhich time the coil spring Ill, which has contracted, exerts lessretractile force on the auxiliary take-up which consequently exerts lesstension on the heel and toe wales. The consequent decreasing tension onthe heel and toe wales is compensated for by the constantly increasingtension which is exerted by the takeup rolls as the auxiliary take-upmoves away from the position shown in Fig. 8. While it is true that thetake-up rolls exert no direct tension on the heel and toe wales, i. e.,at the knitting point, such rolls do indirectly exert tension on theheel and toe wales through the adjacent wales in a manner hereinbeforedescribed with respect to the points ll of the auxiliary take-up,

namely, the take-up rolls exert direct tension on wales other than theheel and toe wales and, as

such wales exert a tension on the adjoining.

wales which in turn exert a tension on their adjoining wales, thetension directly exerted by the take-up rolls on the wales other thanthe heel and toe wales, is transmitted by such other wales to the heeland toe wales. The resultant action is such that the lines of force orpull exerted by the take-up rolls, cross the wales or curve, some ofsuch lines of force or pull thus tensioning the heel and toe wales atthe knitting point. It is evident, as the auxiliary take-up movesdownwardly from the position shown in Fig. 8, that more curved lines offorce or pull are exerted on the heel or toe wales, the tension ortake-up action exerted by the take-up rolls thus increasing while thetake-up pull or action exerted by the auxiliary take-up is graduallydiminishing, the result being that a substantially uniform tension ismaintained on all of the wales of the fabric including the heel and toewales, the tension maintained on the heel and toe wales, i. e., walesknitted thereafter as continuations thereof or as substitutes therefor,being substantially uniform. Finally when the auxiliary take-up reachesthe position indicated in Fig. 10, the tension exerted by the take-uprolls is sufficient properly to tension the heel and toe wales andconsequently the auxiliary take-'up is released from its engagement withthe heel or toe pocket as indicated in said Fig. 10.

As hereinbefore stated the arms 31, 38 pass through the bracket l8, thearms thereby serving to rotate the bracket l8 and can 39 as well as thetake-up rolls mounted upon the bracket 18 during circular knitting andto reciprocate the parts during reciprocatory knitting. Furthermore, thearms 31, 38 serve to guide the take-up rolls and attached parts as theyare raised or lowered by engagement of the rolls with the fabric. If thetension exerted by the rolls on the forming fabric is too great, therolls tend to climb up the fabric, the rolls dropping with the fabricwhen the tension is relieved.

In the foregoing description, reference has been made to the fact thatthe grab take-up mechanism functions immediately following the knittingof a heel pocket or a toe pocket. When knitting from the toe to the topand when the leg portion is knitted wholly or partly of rib fabric, thegrab take-up mechanism engages the knitted fabric, constituting the heelportion, during the knitting of rib courses after the knitting of theheel has been completed; whereas when knitting from top to toe and whenthe knitting of rib fabric follows the knitting of the toe, the grabtake-up mechanism engages the fabric during the knitting of rib course'sfollowing the knitting of the toe.

We claim:

1. A circular knitting machine including a rotary needle cylinderanddial, in combination with auxiliary take-up means adapted to rotatein timed relation with the needle cylinder and dial, such auxiliarytake-up means consisting of a ring having inwardly and downwardlyextending points adapted to penetrate wales of a knitted fabric andthereby tension rib wales knitted following reciprocatory knitting,means for automatically controlling and timing the movements of theauxiliary take-up means in such a manner that the inwardly anddownwardly extending points are, first, raised to a position to engagethe knitted fabric immediately adjacent to the underside of the needledial,

such auxiliary take-up means being adapted thereafter, and afterengagement with the fabric has been effected, to act upon the knittedfabric and move away from the underside of the needle dial as knittingcontinues.

2. A circular knitting machine including a needle cylinder and a needledial, in combination with take-up means for properly tensioning some ofthe rib wales of the knitted fabric, such means including a hub on theunderside of the dial and a relatively movable member having fabricengaging elements, said member being adapted to cooperate with the hubon the dial by engaging and tensioning that portion of the fabricopposite the portion of the fabric to be engaged by the said fabricengaging elements, said movable member, after engagement of the fabricby the said fabric engaging means, maintaining the said fabric under thedesired ten- SlOIl.

3. In a knitting machine having plain and rib needles and adapted toknit stockings having heel and toe pockets, means for tensioning fabricand auxiliary take-up means for tensioning a portion of the fabricfollowing the knitting of a pocket, said auxiliary means adapted toengage that portion of the fabric and tension the wales pertainingthereto sufliciently to permit the continuance of knitting, saidauxiliary takeup means including means acting in conjunction and movablewith the said auxiliary tensioning means for encircling and holding thepockets sufliciently taut to permit ready engagement of the said pocketor fabric adjacent thereto by the auxiliary tensioning means.

4. In a knitting machine having plain and rib needles and adapted toknit stockings having heel and toe pockets, means for tensioning fabricand auxiliary take-up means for tensioning a portion of the fabricfollowing the knitting of a pocket, said auxiliary means adapted toengage that portion of the fabric and tension the wales pertainingthereto sufliciently to permit the continuance of knitting, saidauxiliary take-up means including means acting in conjunction andmovable with the auxiliary tensioning means for encircling and holdingthe pockets sufficiently taut to permit ready engagement of the saidpocket or fabric adjacent thereto by the auxiliary I and means forholding the pocket taut being connected and movable together as a unit.

5. In a knitting machine having a needle cylinder and a needle dial, theunder-side of the dialhaving 9. depending hub, in combination with meansfor holding the fabric taut adjacent to the underside of the dial, saidmeans including a ring 01 a size to pass around the dial hub andmaintain the fabric sufflcientlytaut to be readily engaged by take-upmeans.

6. In a knitting machine having a needle cylinder and a needledial,the-under-side of the dial having a depending hub, in combination withmeans including a ring cooperating with the hub for holding the fabrictaut adjacent to the under-side of the dial and thereafter tensioningthe fabric.

7. For use in a knitting machine having a needle cylinder and needledial, said dial having a downwardly projecting portion, a takeup memberincluding a rod to one end or which is connected a ring, said ring beingconstructed and arranged to cooperate with the said downwardlyprojecting portion, fabric engaging means projecting inwardly from thering and adapted readily to engage fabric when the same is properlytensioned by the ring.

8. A knitting machine having two banks of needles adapted to knit ribfabric, one bank of needles being adapted to knit plain wales and theother bank oi! needles being adapted to knit rib wales, means forsupporting the needles that knit the rib wales said means provided witha depending portion, in combination with take-up means having a portionfor encircling the said depending portion, the said take-up means beingconstructed and arranged to engage the fabric and properly tension thesame during the knitting of rib fabric and following the knitting ofplain fabric on some only oi! the needles, a stationary support throughwhich the takeup means is guided in its movements to and from thementioned depending portion, cooperating formations mounted on thetake-up means and stationary means for causing the said take-up meansasit moves in the direction of the depending portion to be properlycentered with respect thereto.

ROBERT H. LAWSON. ARTHUR N. CLOUTIER.

